PCB chief says Pakistan cricket set for major governance overhaul

Karachi: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has said that the country's cricket governance structure is set for a major overhaul with the post of the chairman to be reduced to a ceremonial one.

For long, the PCB chairman has been directly appointed by the Patron-in-Chief, which was until recently the Pakistan President, and thus he enjoyed absolute power and authority and could do anything as he liked

However, The Nation reports Sethi saying that PCB was planning to bring amendments in the constitution which would change the governance and management structure as well as in domestic cricket in the next six months, adding that the 12-member management committee will elect the chairman once the constitutional amendments are made.

Stating that power has been used in a 'mind boggling' way in many areas in the past, Sethi also said that the chairman's post will be more of a ceremonial one and a team of highly qualified professionals approved by the Prime Minister will select and appoint a chief executive who will have the powers to run day-to-day affairs of the PCB.

Sethi further said that the chief executive would be a top grade professional with experience in administration, marketing, finance, dealings with ICC and other boards and cricket, adding that under the new structure, departmental teams would be asked to sponsor and get involved in management of 12 regional sides in domestic cricket.

Sethi admitted that the present management of the board is weak for which the chairman enjoyed enormous powers, adding that to ensure that the governance model was not changed after a year, the changes would be given legal and constitutional cover and approved by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.